MD · Pathology

Pathology thesis topics, with the design and feasibility for each

A pathology thesis is built on specimens that arrive whether you are ready or not, so the first question is always how many of the lesion you care about the department received last year and whether the blocks and slides from that period can still be retrieved. Immunohistochemistry and special stains are the usual cost and supply bottleneck, and a study that needs four markers on a hundred and fifty blocks has to be costed and sanctioned before the synopsis, not after. Examiners press on grading reproducibility, on whether two observers read independently, and on whether the clinical correlation you claim came from the requisition slip or from the case file.

Topic register · 44 entries · 7 designs^[6]

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NMC PGMER-2023
NBEMS 180 days / 26 months
UGC 2018 · under 10%
ICMR 2017 · ethics

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Filter by design or by feasibility, or search the titles and outcomes. Filtering only hides entries: every topic stays on the page, so nothing is lost if you clear the filters or arrive by a deep link.

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Study design

Feasibility in a teaching unit

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Showing 44 of 44 topics

The sample figure on each plate is a planning range read off the design, not a calculated answer. Your own number comes from a calculation against your own assumptions — the difference you would call clinically meaningful, the variability in your setting, the power you want — and it belongs in the synopsis with those assumptions written beside it.

Topic 01 / 44
Link to this entry
Histopathological spectrum of thyroid lesions and its correlation with preoperative Bethesda cytology category
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Distribution of histopathological diagnoses within each Bethesda category, with category-wise concordance
Collection time
12 months, or 9 months with a retrospective arm
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 100 to 150 thyroidectomy specimens with prior cytology, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A surgical unit sending thyroidectomy specimens routinely
- Archived cytology slides or reports for the same patients
- A reporting format that records Bethesda category in the cytology register
What derails it
Many nodules are aspirated outside the institution and only the surgical specimen arrives, so check how many thyroidectomies last year had an in-house cytology report before you fix your number.
Topic 02 / 44
Link to this entry
Ki-67 proliferation index in invasive breast carcinoma and its relation to histological grade and hormone receptor status
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Ki-67 labelling index and its relation to modified Bloom-Richardson grade and to oestrogen, progesterone and HER2 status
Collection time
12 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 80 to 120 tumours, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- Immunohistochemistry set up for Ki-67 with a validated positive control
- Sanctioned budget or kit supply for the antibody panel
- A fixed counting protocol naming the number of fields and whether hot spots are used
What derails it
Ki-67 counting varies widely between observers in the same department, so fix the field selection rule and count a subset twice yourself, reporting your own agreement rather than assuming it.
Topic 03 / 44
Link to this entry
Bone marrow aspiration and trephine biopsy findings in pancytopenia presenting to a teaching hospital
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Distribution of marrow diagnoses in pancytopenia, with the peripheral smear and haemogram findings in each group
Collection time
12 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 100 to 150 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A marrow aspiration service with trephine biopsies processed in-house
- A haematology analyser with a reliable platelet count
- Access to the clinical case file for presenting features
What derails it
Dry taps and inadequate aspirates are common in the very cases that matter most, so count and report them as a category rather than silently excluding them and claiming a complete diagnostic yield.
Topic 04 / 44
Link to this entry
Conventional cervical cytology reported by the Bethesda system, with cervical biopsy histopathology as the reference standard
DesignDiagnostic accuracyFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Sensitivity and specificity of cytology for a high-grade lesion against cervical biopsy histopathology
Collection time
12 to 15 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 120 to 200 women with both tests, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A gynaecology OPD or screening camp generating smears steadily
- Colposcopy-directed or punch biopsy performed on abnormal smears
- A cytotechnician or trained resident for screening the slides
What derails it
Only abnormal smears go to biopsy, so specificity cannot be estimated unless a defined sample of normal smears is also biopsied or followed; decide which of those two you will do before the protocol is written.
Topic 05 / 44
Link to this entry
Concordance between intraoperative frozen section diagnosis and final paraffin section diagnosis
DesignDiagnostic accuracyFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Concordance rate, with the proportion of deferred, false positive and false negative frozen diagnoses against the paraffin section as reference
Collection time
15 to 18 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 100 to 150 frozen sections, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A working cryostat with a maintenance contract
- A surgical service that actually requests frozen sections
- A log of frozen requests with the reported diagnosis recorded at the time
What derails it
Frozen section volume collapses when the cryostat goes for repair, so check the service history of the machine and whether the department has a standby arrangement before depending on eighteen months of uninterrupted requests.
Topic 06 / 44
Link to this entry
Conventional smear cytology compared with cell block preparation in serous effusions
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Proportion of effusions in which a definite cytological diagnosis was reached by each preparation from the same fluid sample
Collection time
12 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 80 to 120 effusion samples, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A centrifuge and the reagents for cell block preparation
- A steady flow of pleural and peritoneal taps from medicine and surgery
- An agreed rule for how the fluid is split between the two preparations
- A waiver of consent, or consent for the use of leftover diagnostic fluid, as the committee directs
What derails it
Paired preparations only work if the fluid is split before centrifugation and both are read without knowledge of the other, so set up the blinding with a second reader at the outset rather than reading both yourself in one sitting.
Topic 07 / 44
Link to this entry
Fine needle aspiration cytology in peripheral lymphadenopathy, with excision biopsy histopathology as the reference standard
DesignDiagnostic accuracyFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Diagnostic accuracy of FNAC for the broad categories of reactive, granulomatous, lymphomatous and metastatic disease against excision histopathology
Collection time
12 to 15 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 90 to 140 nodes with both tests, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- An FNAC clinic in the department, not only ward aspirates
- A surgical unit willing to excise nodes after cytology where indicated
- Ziehl-Neelsen staining available on aspirate smears
What derails it
Granulomatous nodes are started on antitubercular treatment and never excised, so the subgroup with a histological reference standard is skewed towards the unusual cases; record how many cytology diagnoses were never verified and why.
Topic 08 / 44
Link to this entry
Histopathological changes in gastric antral biopsies and their relation to Helicobacter pylori identified on special stain
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Relation of the graded inflammation, activity, atrophy and intestinal metaplasia score to the presence of the organism on a named stain
Collection time
12 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 100 to 150 biopsies, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- An endoscopy service sending antral biopsies with the site labelled
- Giemsa or a comparable stain validated in the laboratory
- An agreed grading protocol applied to every case
What derails it
Patients who have already taken a proton pump inhibitor or a course of antibiotics before endoscopy will be organism-negative with florid gastritis, so record recent drug history from the requisition or the grading will look uninterpretable.
Topic 09 / 44
Link to this entry
Histopathological spectrum of renal biopsies in adult nephrotic syndrome, with immunofluorescence findings
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityDemanding
Primary outcome
Distribution of glomerular lesion patterns with the corresponding immunofluorescence profile
Collection time
15 to 18 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 60 to 100 biopsies, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A nephrology unit performing native renal biopsies regularly
- Immunofluorescence microscopy with a working conjugate panel and cold chain
- A protocol for splitting the core between light microscopy and immunofluorescence
What derails it
A biopsy core that yields fewer than the agreed number of glomeruli cannot be classified, and in an unstable supply of cores that is a large share; state a minimum glomerular count in the inclusion criteria.
Topic 10 / 44
Link to this entry
Inter-observer agreement in HER2 immunohistochemistry scoring in invasive breast carcinoma
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Agreement between two or three independent observers on the four-tier HER2 score, reported as weighted kappa
Collection time
9 to 12 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 100 to 150 stained slides, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- HER2 immunohistochemistry performed to a fixed protocol with on-slide controls
- Two or three observers who will score independently
- A multi-headed microscope or digital images for the consensus round
What derails it
A consecutive slide set will be dominated by unambiguous negatives and strong positives, so decide at protocol stage whether you are enriching it with equivocal cases and state which you did, because a kappa computed on obvious slides does not describe the scoring problem you set out to study.
Topic 11 / 44
Link to this entry
Morphological dysplasia in bone marrow with cytopenia and its relation to blast proportion on aspirate and trephine
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Proportion of cases meeting defined dysplasia criteria per lineage, and the relation to the blast percentage counted on a fixed number of cells
Collection time
15 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 60 to 100 marrows, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- Good quality aspirate smears with adequate particle yield
- Trephine biopsy processed and decalcified in-house
- A written dysplasia scoring sheet applied by two observers
What derails it
Dysplasia is scored on five hundred cells and residents count two hundred when the clinic is busy, so fix the cell count in the protocol and record the actual number counted per case.
Topic 12 / 44
Link to this entry
Placental histopathological findings in pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia compared with normotensive pregnancies
DesignCase-controlFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Frequency of defined maternal vascular malperfusion lesions in each group
Collection time
12 to 15 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 50 to 80 per group, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A labour room arrangement that sends placentas of both groups, not only abnormal ones
- A standard sampling protocol with a fixed number of blocks per placenta
- Clinical details of blood pressure and proteinuria from the obstetric record
What derails it
Normotensive placentas are discarded in the labour room unless someone is there to collect them, so arrange collection by the on-duty staff nurse with a labelled container and a log, or your control group will be whatever arrived by accident.
Topic 13 / 44
Link to this entry
Histological grading and staging in liver biopsies reported as fatty liver disease
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityDemanding
Primary outcome
Distribution of steatosis grade, ballooning, lobular inflammation and fibrosis stage using a named scoring system
Collection time
15 to 18 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 50 to 80 biopsies, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A hepatology unit still performing liver biopsy for this indication
- Masson trichrome or a comparable fibrosis stain standardised in the laboratory
- Core length and portal tract count recorded for adequacy
What derails it
Liver biopsy for fatty liver has largely been replaced by non-invasive assessment, so confirm the annual number of such biopsies in the histopathology register before building eighteen months of work on it.
Topic 14 / 44
Link to this entry
p16 immunohistochemical expression in cervical intraepithelial lesions and its relation to the histological grade
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Proportion with block-positive p16 staining by histological grade of the squamous intraepithelial lesion
Collection time
12 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 70 to 110 biopsies, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- p16 antibody with a validated protocol and tonsil or known-positive control
- Archived cervical biopsy blocks with readable lesional tissue
- An agreed definition of block positivity applied consistently
What derails it
Archived blocks older than a few years lose antigenicity unevenly, so restrict retrieval to a defined recent period and record block age, because weak staining in old blocks will otherwise be read as a negative result.
Topic 15 / 44
Link to this entry
Gleason grade group in prostatic needle biopsies and its relation to the serum prostate specific antigen recorded at biopsy
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Distribution of grade groups and their relation to the PSA value and to the number of positive cores
Collection time
12 to 15 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 70 to 110 biopsies, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A urology unit doing systematic needle biopsies with cores labelled by site
- PSA values available in the laboratory record for the same patients
- Two observers for grade assignment in difficult cases
What derails it
Cores submitted in one pot without site labelling make the per-core analysis impossible, so agree the submission format with urology in advance rather than discovering the pooling after fifty cases.
Topic 16 / 44
Link to this entry
Histomorphological patterns in soft tissue tumours and the contribution of a defined immunohistochemical panel to the final diagnosis
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Proportion of cases in which the panel changed or confirmed the morphological diagnosis
Collection time
15 to 18 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 50 to 90 tumours, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A defined and costed antibody panel sanctioned before the study starts
- A surgical caseload that resects soft tissue masses
- Access to outside referral slides where the primary excision was elsewhere
What derails it
Soft tissue tumours are individually uncommon and the panel needed differs by morphology, so fix a decision tree for which markers are run on which pattern, or the antibody budget will be exhausted on the first twenty cases.
Topic 17 / 44
Link to this entry
Platelet count on an automated haematology analyser compared with the platelet estimate on a peripheral smear in thrombocytopenia
DesignDiagnostic accuracyFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Agreement between analyser count and smear-based estimate, with the proportion of analyser counts revised after smear review
Collection time
9 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 150 to 250 samples, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- An automated three-part or five-part analyser in routine use
- A trained observer for standardised smear estimation
- Citrate tubes available for suspected pseudothrombocytopenia
What derails it
Platelet clumping in EDTA produces a falsely low analyser count, so a citrate repeat has to be written into the protocol for every low result, otherwise you will report a collection artefact as disease.
Topic 18 / 44
Link to this entry
Pattern and reasons for blood donor deferral in a hospital blood centre
DesignRetrospectiveFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Deferral rate with the distribution of temporary and permanent deferral reasons by donor category
Collection time
4 to 6 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 3000 to 6000 donor records over the audit period, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- Complete donor registers or blood centre software for the chosen period
- A waiver of consent for record review, with donor identity kept out of the dataset
- Permission from the officer in charge of the blood centre
What derails it
Deferral reasons are written as one-word entries that differ between medical officers, so agree a mapping to standard categories before extraction and have a second person verify a sample of your recoding.
Topic 19 / 44
Link to this entry
Acute transfusion reactions reported to the blood centre and their classification by a defined haemovigilance framework
DesignProspective observationalFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Reaction rate per thousand units issued, with the distribution of reaction types and the component involved
Collection time
12 to 15 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 3000 to 6000 units issued during the study window, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A functioning reaction reporting route from wards to the blood centre
- Investigation facilities for direct antiglobulin testing and repeat grouping
- Nursing co-operation to return the bag and the reaction form
What derails it
Mild febrile reactions are treated on the ward and never reported, so an active surveillance step, such as visiting the wards on transfusion days, is essential or you will be studying reporting behaviour rather than reactions.
Topic 20 / 44
Link to this entry
Morphological and cytochemical classification of acute leukaemia and its concordance with immunophenotypic lineage assignment
DesignDiagnostic accuracyFeasibilityDemanding
Primary outcome
Concordance of morphology and cytochemistry with flow cytometric lineage assignment as the reference standard
Collection time
18 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 50 to 80 cases, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A flow cytometer in the institution or a funded referral arrangement
- Cytochemical stains standardised and quality-controlled
- A haematology or oncology unit that diagnoses new leukaemias in-house
What derails it
Flow cytometry is often sent to an outside laboratory at the patient's cost and many families decline, so check the proportion of last year's leukaemias that actually had immunophenotyping before you name it as your reference standard.
Topic 21 / 44
Link to this entry
Histopathological features of products of conception in suspected molar pregnancy and their correlation with the clinical and ultrasound impression
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Distribution of histological diagnoses among specimens sent as suspected molar pregnancy, with the preoperative impression recorded
Collection time
12 to 15 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 60 to 100 specimens, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- An obstetric unit sending all evacuation specimens for histopathology
- The ultrasound and beta hCG record available for the same patients
- An agreed sampling protocol for adequate villous tissue
What derails it
Evacuated tissue arrives mixed with clot and decidua, and if the pot is small you may have no villi at all, so define specimen adequacy in advance and record how many cases failed it.
Topic 22 / 44
Link to this entry
Fine needle aspiration cytology of palpable breast lumps, with excision or core biopsy histopathology as the reference standard
DesignDiagnostic accuracyFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Sensitivity and specificity of cytology for malignancy against histopathology, with the proportion reported as inadequate
Collection time
12 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 100 to 150 lumps, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- An FNAC clinic with trained aspirators
- A surgical unit that excises or biopsies lumps after cytology
- A reporting format that records adequacy separately from diagnosis
What derails it
Benign lumps in young women are not excised, so specificity rests on a small verified subset; pre-state whether clinical and imaging follow-up over a defined period will stand in as the reference standard for those.
Topic 23 / 44
Link to this entry
Histopathological features of resected colorectal carcinoma and the number of lymph nodes retrieved per specimen
DesignRetrospectiveFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Median lymph node yield per specimen and the proportion of resections meeting the accepted minimum, by grossing method and tumour site
Collection time
6 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 80 to 140 resections, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- Archived grossing records and reports for resected colorectal cancers
- A waiver of consent for record review
- Pathology reports that state the node count explicitly
What derails it
Node yield depends on who grossed the specimen and how long it was fixed, so extract the grossing resident or technician and the fixation interval as variables rather than reporting a single departmental figure.
Topic 24 / 44
Link to this entry
Effect of delay between specimen removal and fixation on immunohistochemical staining intensity in breast carcinoma specimens
DesignComparative interventionalFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Staining intensity score for hormone receptors in tissue fixed immediately compared with tissue from the same specimen fixed after a defined delay
Collection time
12 to 15 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 40 to 70 specimens sampled in both arms, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- An arrangement with theatre to receive fresh specimens promptly
- Immunohistochemistry run as a single batch per antibody
- Ethics approval, since specimen handling is being altered deliberately
What derails it
Taking extra tissue before fixation can compromise margin assessment, so the sampling site must be agreed with the reporting consultant and documented for every case, or the study will be stopped after the first margin query.
Topic 25 / 44
Link to this entry
Concordance between the clinical cause of death and the findings at clinical autopsy
DesignRetrospectiveFeasibilityDemanding
Primary outcome
Proportion of autopsies with a major discrepancy between the clinical diagnosis and the autopsy-established cause of death, classified by a named system
Collection time
9 to 12 months of record review
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 50 to 100 clinical autopsies, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A department that still performs clinical autopsies with consent from relatives
- Complete case files for the same patients
- Permission from the head of department and a waiver of consent from the ethics committee
What derails it
Clinical autopsy numbers have fallen to a handful a year in most Indian teaching hospitals, so count the autopsy register for the last five years before choosing this, and do not confuse it with the medicolegal autopsies done in forensic medicine.
Topic 26 / 44
Link to this entry
Findings at perinatal autopsy in stillbirths and early neonatal deaths with a structural anomaly detected antenatally
DesignProspective observationalFeasibilityDemanding
Primary outcome
Concordance of autopsy findings with the antenatal ultrasound diagnosis, and additional anomalies found only at autopsy
Collection time
18 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 30 to 60 cases, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- Consent from parents, taken by a trained counsellor rather than at the bedside in distress
- A standard perinatal autopsy protocol with radiographs where indicated
- An obstetric unit that retains antenatal scan images
What derails it
Many families decline a perinatal autopsy, so plan a recruitment period long enough to survive a low consent rate and record every refusal, because an examiner will ask how representative your series is.
Topic 27 / 44
Link to this entry
Histopathological spectrum of oral mucosal lesions in patients with a recorded habit of tobacco use
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Distribution of histological diagnoses and the grade of epithelial dysplasia by type and duration of the recorded habit
Collection time
12 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 90 to 140 biopsies, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A dental or ENT service biopsying oral lesions
- A habit history proforma completed at the time of biopsy
- A named dysplasia grading system applied by two observers
What derails it
Habit history written on the requisition slip is usually one word, so attach your own short proforma for the clinician to complete, because duration and frequency cannot be reconstructed from the slip later.
Topic 28 / 44
Link to this entry
Urine cytology in haematuria, with cystoscopic biopsy histopathology as the reference standard
DesignDiagnostic accuracyFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Sensitivity and specificity of urine cytology for urothelial carcinoma against biopsy histopathology, by tumour grade
Collection time
15 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 80 to 120 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A urology service doing cystoscopy for haematuria
- A cytology laboratory processing urine promptly with a fixative protocol
- A rule for how many voided samples are collected per patient
What derails it
Urine left at room temperature for hours before processing degrades the cells and reads as inadequate, so fix the maximum time from voiding to fixation and record it, because in practice samples arrive from the ward at the end of the shift.
Topic 29 / 44
Link to this entry
Sickling and solubility testing for haemoglobin S, with haemoglobin electrophoresis or HPLC as the reference standard
DesignDiagnostic accuracyFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Sensitivity and specificity of the screening tests against the confirmatory method, by carrier and homozygous state
Collection time
12 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 150 to 300 participants in a defined screening population, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- Reagents for solubility testing with quality control samples
- Access to electrophoresis or HPLC in-house or through a funded referral
- A screening population, such as a tribal or community programme, with institutional sanction
What derails it
Screening programmes run outside the hospital bring consent and counselling duties for a heritable condition, so the protocol must say who discloses a carrier result and what counselling follows, before the committee will clear it.
Topic 30 / 44
Link to this entry
Coagulation screening parameters in chronic liver disease and their relation to the severity grade recorded clinically
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Relation of prothrombin time with international normalised ratio, activated partial thromboplastin time and platelet count to the clinical severity grade
Collection time
9 to 12 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 80 to 120 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A semi-automated or automated coagulometer with current reagent lots
- Citrate tubes filled to the mark, with a rejection policy for short samples
- Access to the clinical record for severity grading
What derails it
A short-filled or clotted citrate tube cannot be run at all, so record rejections prospectively and train the phlebotomy team on fill volume before collection starts rather than discovering the loss at analysis.
Topic 31 / 44
Link to this entry
Histopathological features of invasive fungal sinusitis in tissue received from sinonasal debridement
DesignRetrospectiveFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Distribution of fungal morphological types on special stains, with the extent of angioinvasion and necrosis recorded per specimen
Collection time
6 to 9 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 40 to 80 specimens, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- Archived blocks from sinonasal debridement specimens
- Periodic acid-Schiff and Gomori methenamine silver stains validated in the laboratory
- Microbiology culture results for the same specimens where available
- A waiver of consent for the use of archived blocks and the linked clinical records
What derails it
Fungal morphology on section can be distorted by crush and cautery artefact, so exclude inadequate fragments by a stated criterion and correlate with culture where it exists rather than assigning a genus from morphology alone.
Topic 32 / 44
Link to this entry
Histomorphological and immunohistochemical classification of nodal lymphomas in a teaching hospital
DesignRetrospectiveFeasibilityDemanding
Primary outcome
Distribution of lymphoma subtypes assigned on morphology with a defined immunohistochemical panel
Collection time
9 to 12 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 50 to 90 cases, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- Archived blocks with lesional tissue sufficient for a panel of several markers
- A sanctioned antibody panel, since the cost per case is high
- Clinical staging details from the oncology record
- A waiver of consent for archived block and record review
What derails it
Most nodal lymphoma diagnoses need more markers than a routine department stocks, so write the panel and its cost into the protocol and obtain sanction, because part-stained cases cannot be subtyped and cannot be counted.
Topic 33 / 44
Link to this entry
Turnaround time for histopathology reporting and the steps at which delay occurs
DesignRetrospectiveFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Median turnaround time from specimen receipt to report release, with the interval attributable to each processing step
Collection time
4 to 6 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 600 to 1200 specimens, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- Date-stamped records at accession, grossing, processing and reporting
- Laboratory information system data or a complete register
- Permission from the head of department to publish departmental timings
What derails it
The accession date is often written as the date the pot arrived rather than the date of surgery, so define each timestamp precisely before extraction, because mixing the two makes every interval longer than it truly is.
Topic 34 / 44
Link to this entry
Rapid rescreening of negative cervical smears as an internal quality control measure in a cytology laboratory
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Proportion of initially negative smears reclassified as abnormal on rescreening, by the screening observer
Collection time
9 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 400 to 800 negative smears, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A cytology workload large enough to yield the required negatives
- A second screener blinded to the first report
- A departmental decision that reclassified cases are acted on clinically
What derails it
Rescreening finds missed abnormalities in named colleagues' slides, so agree with the head of department in advance how results are reported internally, or the study will stall for reasons that have nothing to do with the data.
Topic 35 / 44
Link to this entry
Two skin antiseptic preparations before venesection in voluntary blood donors: a randomised comparison of bag culture positivity
DesignRandomised controlledFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Proportion of collected units with a positive sterility culture
Collection time
12 to 15 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 250 to 400 donations per arm, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A blood centre with regular voluntary donation camps
- Microbiology support for sterility culture of a sampled segment
- Ethics approval and CTRI registration before the first donor is enrolled
What derails it
Culture positivity is an uncommon event, so the numbers required are much larger than a typical thesis sample and the study only works if the blood centre's annual collection is high; verify the collection figure before you commit to this rather than to a contamination-surrogate outcome.
Topic 36 / 44
Link to this entry
Cerebrospinal fluid cytological and biochemical findings in suspected meningitis and their relation to the final clinical diagnosis
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Differential cell count, protein and glucose pattern by the final clinical category of meningitis recorded at discharge
Collection time
12 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 90 to 140 samples, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A cytocentrifuge or a reliable manual preparation protocol for low-cellularity fluids
- Prompt transport of fluid, since cells lyse within an hour or two
- Access to the discharge diagnosis for the same patients
What derails it
Cerebrospinal fluid sent at the end of a ward round sits for hours and the cells disintegrate, so agree a transport arrangement with the neurology ward and record the delay for each sample.
Topic 37 / 44
Link to this entry
Histopathological spectrum of ovarian neoplasms and their relation to age and laterality
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Distribution of histological types with the age group and side of involvement for each
Collection time
12 to 15 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 80 to 130 specimens, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A gynaecology unit operating ovarian masses in-house
- A grossing protocol with a stated number of blocks per specimen
- Age and laterality recorded at accession rather than reconstructed later
What derails it
Large cystic tumours are sampled too sparsely to find the focal solid area that determines the diagnosis, so fix the blocks-per-centimetre rule in the protocol and record how many blocks each case received.
Topic 38 / 44
Link to this entry
Mismatch repair protein expression by immunohistochemistry in resected colorectal carcinoma and its relation to site, age and histological features
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityDemanding
Primary outcome
Proportion with loss of expression of one or more mismatch repair proteins, by tumour site, patient age and named histological features
Collection time
15 to 18 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 60 to 100 tumours, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A four-antibody mismatch repair panel with sanctioned budget
- Internal positive control tissue on each slide
- Archived blocks with adequate tumour and adjacent normal mucosa
What derails it
Mismatch repair staining is read as lost only when the internal control stains, so any slide without staining in normal crypts must be repeated rather than counted, and you must budget for repeat runs in your antibody estimate.
Topic 39 / 44
Link to this entry
Histopathological changes in gallbladder specimens received after cholecystectomy for cholelithiasis
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Distribution of histological diagnoses including incidental carcinoma and dysplasia, by patient age and stone characteristics recorded at grossing
Collection time
9 to 12 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 200 to 350 specimens, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A surgical unit with a steady cholecystectomy load
- A grossing protocol with defined sampling of the fundus, body and neck
- Stone number and character recorded at grossing rather than from the operation note
What derails it
Incidental carcinoma is found only if the wall is sampled adequately, so three random blocks will miss it; state the sampling rule and increase sampling for any thickened or ulcerated area, recording when you did so.
Topic 40 / 44
Link to this entry
Morphological classification of anaemia on peripheral smear and red cell indices in adults attending a medicine outpatient clinic
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Distribution of morphological types with the corresponding mean corpuscular volume and red cell distribution width
Collection time
9 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 200 to 300 patients, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- An automated analyser with a current calibration record
- A standardised smear staining protocol with daily control slides
- A medicine OPD that will route samples with the basic clinical details
What derails it
Patients who have already been started on iron or vitamin supplements show mixed pictures, so record treatment history at sampling, because dimorphic smears without that history cannot be classified or explained.
Topic 41 / 44
Link to this entry
Distribution of immunohistochemistry-based molecular surrogate groups in invasive breast carcinoma and their relation to grade, size and nodal status
DesignCross-sectionalFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Proportion in each surrogate group defined by hormone receptor, HER2 and Ki-67 status, with grade, tumour size and nodal status in each
Collection time
15 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 90 to 140 tumours, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A full hormone receptor, HER2 and Ki-67 panel run to one protocol
- A breast surgery unit performing resections with axillary sampling
- Written cut-offs for receptor and Ki-67 positivity agreed before scoring
What derails it
Cases where patients received neoadjuvant chemotherapy before resection have altered receptor and proliferation profiles, so decide at the outset whether they are excluded or analysed separately and record the treatment sequence for everyone.
Topic 42 / 44
Link to this entry
Audit of critical value identification and communication in a clinical haematology laboratory
DesignRetrospectiveFeasibilityStraightforward
Primary outcome
Proportion of critical results with documented communication to the treating team within the defined time limit
Collection time
4 to 6 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 300 to 600 critical results, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A written critical value list already in use in the laboratory
- A communication register or logbook with time entries
- Permission from the laboratory in charge to audit documentation
What derails it
Calls are made but not written down, so an audit of documentation will understate practice; state clearly that you are auditing the record, and consider a short prospective window with a structured log for comparison.
Topic 43 / 44
Link to this entry
Ascitic fluid cytology in women with an adnexal mass, with surgical histopathology as the reference standard
DesignDiagnostic accuracyFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Sensitivity and specificity of ascitic fluid cytology for malignancy against histopathology of the resected specimen
Collection time
15 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 50 to 80 women, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- A gynaecology unit tapping ascites before surgery
- Cell block facility, since smears alone are often hypocellular
- Histopathology available for the same women in-house
What derails it
Women with gross ascites often receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy and never reach primary surgery, so your reference standard disappears for the most advanced cases; define how those patients are handled before enrolment.
Topic 44 / 44
Link to this entry
Concordance between the radiological impression and the histopathological diagnosis in primary bone lesions
DesignRetrospectiveFeasibilityModerate
Primary outcome
Concordance rate between the reported radiological impression and the final histopathological diagnosis
Collection time
6 to 9 months
Sample, as a planning figure
roughly 50 to 90 cases, subject to a proper calculation
What your unit must already have
- Archived biopsy reports for primary bone lesions
- Matching imaging reports retrievable from the radiology archive
- An orthopaedic oncology or trauma caseload that biopsies bone lesions
- A waiver of consent for review of archived pathology and radiology reports
What derails it
Decalcified biopsies from sclerotic lesions are frequently non-diagnostic, so count them as a separate outcome category rather than excluding them, because the proportion is part of what a reader needs to know.

The designs

What each design commits you to

The designs in this Pathology register

The design is not a label on the title; it decides your ethics route, your timetable and the test that answers your primary question. Only the designs that appear above are explained here.

Cross-sectional
22 topics
One contact per participant. Usually the quickest to complete, and the design most often chosen when time is short.
Prospective observational
2 topics
Participants are followed after enrolment without allocating an intervention. Ethics approval must precede the first enrolment.
Retrospective
8 topics
Existing records only. Faster, but limited by what was recorded, and a waiver of consent is normally sought from the ethics committee.
Comparative interventional
1 topic
Two or more arms compared. Ethics scrutiny is heavier, and the protocol must state how allocation is handled.
Randomised controlled
1 topic
Allocation is randomised. Prospective interventional studies are registered with the Clinical Trials Registry of India before the first participant is enrolled.
Diagnostic accuracy
9 topics
An index test measured against a reference standard. The sample size depends on the expected sensitivity or specificity and the prevalence in your setting.
Case-control
1 topic
Cases and controls compared for prior exposure. Control selection is where these are most often criticised.

What the feasibility mark means

A judgement about a typical teaching unit, not about yours. Confirm the volume, the equipment and the co-operation a topic needs before your synopsis goes in, because after that the timetable stops being negotiable^[2].

Straightforward
19 topics
Achievable in most teaching units with routine caseload and no equipment beyond what is already in use.
Moderate
18 topics
Achievable, but needs either a specific piece of equipment, a collaborating department, or a caseload you should confirm before committing.
Demanding
7 topics
Only take this on if your unit already has the volume, the equipment and the co-operation it needs. Confirm all three before your synopsis goes in.

Next steps

Before you commit to one

What to do with a topic you like

Three steps, in this order. None of them is us: the first is arithmetic, the second is your guide, the third is a search only you can run.

Do the arithmetic
The figure on each plate is a planning range, not an answer. Put your own assumptions — the difference you would call clinically meaningful, the variability you expect, the power you want — into the free sample size calculator, then divide the result by the eligible patients your unit sees in a month and see whether the months you have left permit it.
Take it to your guide
Nothing on this page is approved by anybody. Your guide and your department decide what is feasible in your unit, and your ethics committee decides whether it may start — before the first participant, not before the analysis^[5]. Where your university ordinance is stricter than anything here, the ordinance wins^[1].
Run the search yourself
We make no claim that any question here is novel, under-studied or a gap, because that depends on a literature search run today in your own field. Read what the search returns before you write the introduction, and be ready to say why the question is worth asking in your setting.

What a thesis in this field has to satisfy — the obligations, the statistics and the questions residents ask first — is set out on the Pathology page. Other specialties are in the topic bank index, and the method is worked through in the guides.

Undertakings

Mechanisms, not promises

What protects your draft, and who owns the work

Each line below is a mechanism this platform implements or a published instrument it is built around. None of them is a guarantee, and we are affiliated with no regulator or university.

Protection of your work

Row-level security
Every table enforces row-level access. You read your own record, and nothing else.
View-only streaming
Drafts are streamed to you through an authenticated route, not handed over as a file.
Watermarked to you
Every page you read carries your own name and email across it.
Download gated
The final file unlocks when the fee is settled in full, and not before.
Mumbai region · DPDP 2023
Your record and your documents are held in the Mumbai region, so India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 applies to them.
Anonymised data only
We accept no patient identifiers. An NDA is available on request.

How this works

Instruments we work to

NMC PGMER-2023
The thesis obligations set out in the postgraduate medical education regulations.
NBEMS
DNB and DrNB protocol and thesis timelines, and the page limit, as published.
UGC 2018 · <10%
The academic integrity convention we work to on every draft.
ICMJE · Vancouver
Authorship criteria and reference style, applied as published.
No affiliation
We work to these published instruments. We are affiliated to none of the bodies that issue them.

How this works

Authorship and the uniqueness check

Sole author
Mentoring, editing, statistics and compliance. You remain the sole author of your thesis.
Not ghostwriting
We will not write your thesis for you, and we will not be named in it.
MDSoftune
Word-level uniqueness checking, built with REDENN Informatics Inc., Canada.
Every version
Each draft is checked word by word before your university sees it.

How this works

MDThesis is an independent academic mentorship practice. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting for the NMC, NBEMS, UGC or any university.

Free feasibility call

Tell us where your thesis stands. A senior doctor will tell you what to do next.

A senior doctor replies within one working day. No obligation. MD, MS, DNB, DrNB, DM, MCh, MDS and international programmes.

Request for a feasibility call

No obligation

Reply within one working day · No obligation · Your details are not shared

Prefer to write to us first? Contact the practice. We mentor and edit; you remain the sole author of your thesis.

References

[1]
Post Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2023, National Medical Commission. In force 1 January 2024. Thesis requirements at Regulation 5.2. nmc.org.in
[2]
DNB and DrNB thesis guidelines, National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences. Protocol within 180 days of joining for three-year courses and 90 days for the two-year post-diploma DNB; research study complete by 24 months; thesis by 26 months; 80-page limit inclusive of certificates and annexures. natboard.edu.in
[5]
National Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical and Health Research Involving Human Participants, 2017, Indian Council of Medical Research. Ethics approval precedes data collection. icmr.gov.in
[6]
Counts of specialties, tracked stages, supported currencies and supported countries are structural facts of this platform, read from its own configuration rather than from a claim.

Document: Topic bank — Pathology · Revision 1 · Last reviewed 10 SEPT 2026

Issued by MDThesis, a brand of REDENN Informatics Private Limited

Pathology thesis topics, with the design and feasibility for eachPathology thesis topics, with the design and feasibility for each

Histopathological spectrum of thyroid lesions and its correlation with preoperative Bethesda cytology category

Ki-67 proliferation index in invasive breast carcinoma and its relation to histological grade and hormone receptor status

Bone marrow aspiration and trephine biopsy findings in pancytopenia presenting to a teaching hospital

Conventional cervical cytology reported by the Bethesda system, with cervical biopsy histopathology as the reference standard

Concordance between intraoperative frozen section diagnosis and final paraffin section diagnosis

Conventional smear cytology compared with cell block preparation in serous effusions

Fine needle aspiration cytology in peripheral lymphadenopathy, with excision biopsy histopathology as the reference standard

Histopathological changes in gastric antral biopsies and their relation to Helicobacter pylori identified on special stain

Histopathological spectrum of renal biopsies in adult nephrotic syndrome, with immunofluorescence findings

Inter-observer agreement in HER2 immunohistochemistry scoring in invasive breast carcinoma

Morphological dysplasia in bone marrow with cytopenia and its relation to blast proportion on aspirate and trephine

Placental histopathological findings in pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia compared with normotensive pregnancies

Histological grading and staging in liver biopsies reported as fatty liver disease

p16 immunohistochemical expression in cervical intraepithelial lesions and its relation to the histological grade

Gleason grade group in prostatic needle biopsies and its relation to the serum prostate specific antigen recorded at biopsy

Histomorphological patterns in soft tissue tumours and the contribution of a defined immunohistochemical panel to the final diagnosis

Platelet count on an automated haematology analyser compared with the platelet estimate on a peripheral smear in thrombocytopenia

Pattern and reasons for blood donor deferral in a hospital blood centre

Acute transfusion reactions reported to the blood centre and their classification by a defined haemovigilance framework

Morphological and cytochemical classification of acute leukaemia and its concordance with immunophenotypic lineage assignment

Histopathological features of products of conception in suspected molar pregnancy and their correlation with the clinical and ultrasound impression

Fine needle aspiration cytology of palpable breast lumps, with excision or core biopsy histopathology as the reference standard

Histopathological features of resected colorectal carcinoma and the number of lymph nodes retrieved per specimen

Effect of delay between specimen removal and fixation on immunohistochemical staining intensity in breast carcinoma specimens

Concordance between the clinical cause of death and the findings at clinical autopsy

Findings at perinatal autopsy in stillbirths and early neonatal deaths with a structural anomaly detected antenatally

Histopathological spectrum of oral mucosal lesions in patients with a recorded habit of tobacco use

Urine cytology in haematuria, with cystoscopic biopsy histopathology as the reference standard

Sickling and solubility testing for haemoglobin S, with haemoglobin electrophoresis or HPLC as the reference standard

Coagulation screening parameters in chronic liver disease and their relation to the severity grade recorded clinically

Histopathological features of invasive fungal sinusitis in tissue received from sinonasal debridement

Histomorphological and immunohistochemical classification of nodal lymphomas in a teaching hospital

Turnaround time for histopathology reporting and the steps at which delay occurs

Rapid rescreening of negative cervical smears as an internal quality control measure in a cytology laboratory

Two skin antiseptic preparations before venesection in voluntary blood donors: a randomised comparison of bag culture positivity

Cerebrospinal fluid cytological and biochemical findings in suspected meningitis and their relation to the final clinical diagnosis

Histopathological spectrum of ovarian neoplasms and their relation to age and laterality

Mismatch repair protein expression by immunohistochemistry in resected colorectal carcinoma and its relation to site, age and histological features

Histopathological changes in gallbladder specimens received after cholecystectomy for cholelithiasis

Morphological classification of anaemia on peripheral smear and red cell indices in adults attending a medicine outpatient clinic

Distribution of immunohistochemistry-based molecular surrogate groups in invasive breast carcinoma and their relation to grade, size and nodal status

Audit of critical value identification and communication in a clinical haematology laboratory

Ascitic fluid cytology in women with an adnexal mass, with surgical histopathology as the reference standard

Concordance between the radiological impression and the histopathological diagnosis in primary bone lesions

What the feasibility mark means

Tell us where your thesis stands. A senior doctor will tell you what to do next.

Pathology thesis topics, with the design and feasibility for each